


Coming Home

by TheQueenSylveon



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 17:32:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10667466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenSylveon/pseuds/TheQueenSylveon
Summary: One night would never be enough for her, no matter how many rules accepting it broke.





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> #LetLexiRyde2k17

One time, she had promised herself. That was all it would be, and it would be enough. More than enough, even, and far more than she had anticipated. Considering she had done nothing but draw lines and put up barriers since the very start, it was more than she thought it would ever amount to. One night certainly wasn't enough to destroy the cold and distant act she had worked so hard to perfect. Yet that was exactly what the night had achieved.

The drink had done little to stop her, and though she had assured herself it was only one drink – one bottle of wine counted as one drink, if she drank from the bottle, surely – it felt more like she had spent the entire evening previous doing nothing but drinking. It would hit her worse later. It always did.

Staring blankly at her omni-tool, Lexi only idly heard the distant rush of air as a door was opened. So lost in her own thoughts, she did not notice it was her own.

“Mind if I distract you again?” Sara Ryder asked, smooth as ever – which was to say not very smooth at all, Lexi thought – as she entered the small room. “After last night, I think I proved far more distracting than you first gave me credit for.”

“Last night,” Lexi started, eyes remaining fixed on her forearm long after the display of the omni-tool had faded. “Last night was a mistake, Ryder. I was feeling sorry for myself and you said things I wanted to hear.”

“You didn't seem to mind when I stopped talking. In fact, you didn't seem to mind at all when my mouth-”

“Ryder,” Lexi spoke firmly, flustered but not losing the finality and subtle warning in her tone.

“Alright,” Ryder said, defeat clear in her voice. It was enough, just enough, to get Lexi to look up. An expression that did not entirely match the miserable tone of voice greeted her. It was a look that said it all; the battle was lost, but not the war, and it was clear in that goofy overeager smirk that this was one soldier that would not be deterred.

-

There was never a time when Ryder returned that Lexi was not immediately at the ready. Ready for tests and exams, to poke and prod, or to resuscitate the reckless Pathfinder should need be. It was just another quick run on Eos, to check on Prodromos and see how things were shaping up – radiation was down, or so Suvi said – so Lexi had not prepared an extensive medical exam to follow. Still, it could not wait, and Ryder seemed to be taking far too long in the cargo bay.

The door slid open, and though it was one she rarely found herself inclined to go through, she strode with confidence into the rowdier part of the squad's favourite hangout. However, before the stench of Liam's couch or the sound of Vetra's loud laughter could greet her, she was stopped in her path.

Staring through the glass, it was an unusual sight, at least for her. Standing there, arms around each other, were Ryder and Peebee, and Ryder was laughing. Really laughing, so hard and genuine that her eyes were shut and her mouth spread wide across her face. Lexi had never seen her laugh, not many people laughed around her. Only at her, Lexi reminded herself, and she frowned to see Peebee's eyes open, watching her.

What was it that had made Ryder smile like that, laugh like that, whatever Pelessaria had said, Lexi could not puzzle out. Why it mattered eluded her equally as well, and as she rounded the corner, door opening and the sound of laughter meeting her, she had to swallow hard to so much as get words out.

“Ryder,” Lexi greeted, short and sharp as she watched Peebee's gloved hand hold the back of Sara's head. The fingers curved smoothly, almost familiarly, around the human's scalp. “And Pelessaria.”

“Yes, mother?” Peebee teased, already rolling her eyes and loosening her grip.

“Physicals for the both of you, now you're back,” Lexi spoke quickly, eyes lingering on the Angara behind them. “Jaal as well, but Ryder first.”

“Anything to get me alone, doctor?” Sara smiled that lopsided smile, and Lexi felt herself go tense.

“If you would prefer, I'm sure someone would volunteer to come with you,” Lexi quipped, averting her eyes as she turned back to the door. “In case you need to hold someone's hand. You are so afraid of needles.”

Striding away, confidence bruised but not broken, Lexi felt herself smiling, the sound of Ryder's chuckling close behind her. Even Peebee was laughing at her joke. Not at her, though, for once.

-

“So,” Ryder started, uneasy with the tension in the small and cramped medbay. “You come here often?”

“Must you start every conversation with some poor excuse for flirting?” Lexi asked, door closing behind her as she looked up at the human sat on the examining slab.

“If I try it enough, it's bound to work.” Sara shrugged, feet swinging idly. “It did once before.”

“When I was stumbling drunk and wallowing in self pity,” Lexi reminded her, though it felt far more like she was convincing herself. “Could you sit still for a moment? I can hardly examine you when you're moving around like that.”

“Change of topic, I get it,” Sara said, stopping her legs and crossing them at the ankles. “If we're playing that game, can I choose the topic at least?”

“Go on then,” Lexi sighed, bending at the knee and pushing the leg of Sara's trousers up. Already the cut looked infected, and the doctor rolled her eyes. Of course she would wait until she was limping to complain.

“Tell me about yourself.” Sara stared up at the ceiling, the bright lights far easier to watch than what was happening to her leg. The others could laugh all they wanted about it, she was squeamish and no amount of pretty blue face could tempt her to look down at what she knew had become a festering wound.

“That's rather vague,” Lexi said, sounding half disappointed. “I thought you loved digging into people's personal lives.”

“Now you're just projecting your own insecurities onto me,” Sara laughed, positive she knew the exact look on Lexi's face. “See, you're not the only that can do the psychoanalysis babble.”

“Seems I'm still the only one that can do it correctly,” Lexi muttered.

“Stop avoiding my questions, Doctor T'Perro,” said Sara, going back to swinging her legs. They stopped when a soft hand grabbed her calf, and she half swore her heart stopped with them.

“Perhaps you should ask one then, Pathfinder,” Lexi shot back, not noticing her patient had nearly stopped breathing, instead smiling and continuing on tending to the injured leg. She was becoming comfortable with their playful sort of banter.

Shaking her head, Sara continued on. “What sort of thing do you do for fun? I mean, you do know what that is, right?”

“Very funny, Ryder,” Lexi rolled her eyes again, fearing one day they may get stuck at the back of her head if she had to spend any more time with the woman. “I find work plenty enjoyable, my research as well.”

“This is why I asked if you knew what fun is, because that answer proves you do not,” Sara said, half smiling as she felt the wound on her leg closing. “I've seen your bar over on your bookshelf, and I know you can drink. Is that how you let loose? Let your tentacles down, so to speak?”

“It's not a bar. Those are purely medicinal,” Lexi argued, knowing better than to start any debate over Ryder's use of the word tentacles.

“Never knew Serrice Ice brandy had medicinal purposes,” Ryder said, sarcasm thick in her voice. “My mistake.”

-

Loud music was never her style, as she was sure she had made abundantly clear, and it was unlike her to leave the ship on a whim, especially over something so petty. No, she reminded herself, she had not left the Tempest simply to follow Ryder and Peebee, but to stretch her legs. Or, she supposed, as she sat down at an empty booth in the Vortex, to get a drink.

For once, Lexi did not seem to care who saw her, or how she appeared to them, entirely too obvious as she craned her neck to try and spot the two offending squadmates. Only when Anan put a glass down in front of her, very obviously drawing her attention away from scanning the crowd, did Lexi stop.

“I'd say it's on the house, but you know me too well to believe that,” Anan smirked, answering the question Lexi had hardly even managed to form in her head. “A drink, courtesy of the Pathfinder herself.”

“Would you sit?” Lexi asked, hands already wrapping around the familiar shape of the glass.

“Look around, T'Perro,” Anan shook her head as she spoke, standing up straight as she gestured lazily back to the bar. “Busiest night in weeks, I haven't got time to chat.”

“Then could you do something for me?” Lexi almost reached out to grab the other Asari's arm, but knew better. “The Pathfinder, would you look out for her? And who she's with, make sure they don't-”

“Do anything reckless?” Anan finished, brow raised in casual curiosity.

“With each other,” Lexi managed to choke out, fingers tightening their grip on the cup.

“My, my,” Anan chided, amused with the apparent situation. “Doctor T'Perro breaking her own rules.”

“I haven't broken anything,” Lexi said, though it was very clearly a lie to both of them. “Not yet, anyway.”

-

“If you're here to tell me to clean my room or lecture me about my trust issues, kindly leave the way you came,” Peebee said, not even turning from her workbench to look at Lexi as she spoke. “I'm sure I know all your rants well enough by now that I could just recite them to myself.”

“Less impact though, given you wouldn't understand half the words you would be saying,” Lexi replied, smiling if only to stop herself from snapping completely. She was already on edge, and the disaster of a room that Peebee kept did nothing to put her at ease.

“Oh hardy har, you and your fancy medical gibberish making you better than everyone else. Give it a rest already, maybe you'll loosen up enough for that stick to be removed from your-”

“Honestly, if I wanted your opinion on something I would have waited for you to yell it at me uninvited,” Lexi bit back, angry as she stepped fully into the small room, the door shutting behind her. “I came to have a talk.”

“Don't worry, Matriarch T'Perro, my real mother gave it to me already, and I hardly need your clinical version of it,” Peebee jammed her screwdriver into the circuit board, perhaps a little too aggressively.

“That isn't-” Cutting herself off, Lexi unfurled her clenched fist. “I want to talk about Ryder.”

“What about her?” Peebee turned her head to the side, finally looking at the doctor.

“Her relationship,” Lexi began, the words catching in her throat, raw and grating, reminding her how stupid she was for even needing to do what she was trying to. “With you.”

“I'd hardly call it that, but you'll just say that's because I'm non-committal and flighty, or whatever your fancy psychology degree tells you to call it.” Peebee pointed her screwdriver at Lexi, before tapping it against her chin. “Or are you worried we might be swapping germs and festering something?”

“Not in so many words,” Lexi said, taking a deep breath as she tried to stay calm with the woman. “Are you together? Intimately?”

Guessing finally at what Lexi was angling at, Peebee gasped, pointing the screwdriver at her and grinning. “You aren't telling me you of all people are jealous, are you? I didn't even know you could feel something like that.”

“Pelessaria, be serious,” Lexi snapped, tone firm as she gathered herself, back straight and chin up. It was of no use, however.

“You can't pull any of that crap with me now, T'Perro, not when you like Ryder,” Peebee almost giggled the words out, only laughing more when she saw the stern and disapproving look that had overtaken Lexi's face. “You like her.”

“Oh, you're useless,” Lexi muttered, turning away from the still cackling woman.

-

What was there she could say that she had not already said so many times before? Once already she had had to aid her back to health after death, but a second time was too much. Even more so, she thought, now that her heart seemed to stop with Ryder's. This was why she never wanted to like patients, when all her patients were so prone to injury.

Sara Ryder, however, was the only patient that seemed prone to death.

It took three tries and two failures for her to finally talk to the woman. Even when she succeeded, Ryder seemed uninterested or unwilling to be serious about it.

Lounging on one of the long couches in the meeting room, Sara Ryder stretched her arms out over the back and smiled, as if trying to invite the doctor to sit down. Lexi remained standing, very aware that she would be setting herself up for failure if she sat beside her, knowing an arm would lazily wrap around her shoulders. Not that the thought really bothered her, flustered as it made her.

As much as Lexi had rehearsed the words in her head, at that moment, eyes locked with the woman, they seemed to vanish from her mind. Unable to bear the silence and Sara's eager grin, she wasted no time trying to remember her words. “You died.”

“Twice now, must be a new record,” Sara said, sounding genuinely proud of herself.

“If you're trying to set the record for most times a patient has nearly killed me from stress, congratulations,” Lexi let her eyes flick from the Pathfinder, watching the stars beyond the window instead. It made it easier. “Has it ever occurred to you that someone might actually care if you died?”

“Not in the moment, no,” Sara admitted, and it was the quietest Lexi had ever heard her. It was gone in an instant though, replaced by that confident attitude once more. “But letting SAM kill me was the only option. Would you rather I died at the hands of that asshole, Liam and Jaal with me, or worse? If I hadn't, I could have been ex-”

“Don't,” Lexi managed, for the first time letting the fear become real. “Don't ever make me think about that. The nightmares about SAM are bad enough, but that-”

“Will never happen,” Ryder finished for her, standing and approaching her. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“And if you don't?” Lexi asked, half rhetorical as she watched Sara, almost reaching out to her.

“I wouldn't even worry about it,” Sara said, hand brushing at Lexi's arm. “I know that if it did happen, I'd still have nothing to worry about. You'd beat the exaltation out of me for being so reckless.”

“Ryder,” Lexi breathed, closing her eyes as she felt the warm hand on her neck.

“It will never happen, Lexi,” Sara assured her, fingers curling in towards her palm, stroking at the soft blue skin. “You won't lose me. Not to anything, not like you lost them.”

Breathing in deeply, Lexi faltered, not wanting to deal with those emotions in that moment. Instead, she did what Ryder was so good at doing, giving a wobbly smile as she whispered, “Should have known I wouldn't get rid of you that easily.”

-

There was something inspiring about a Pathfinder, something so confident and bright that made everyone in the room feel like they, too, could achieve the impossible. Or, Lexi thought, maybe that was just Sara herself. It certainly seemed Ryder had a way of talking, a sort of charisma, almost, as absurd as that was to think. Even if most people seemed to dislike her at first, Sara Ryder certainly seemed to be able to charm at least a small few.

Usually such thoughts only came to light in Lexi's mind when Ryder was giving a speech, or taking charge during a meeting, but it was a rather mundane conversation entirely that had her staring.

Omni-tool still active, Lexi thought she was being rather subtle, stealing glances at the woman as she spoke to Liam. It never hurt to look, and there was a fire in Sara's eyes, filling them with an entirely consuming passion, as she spoke to the young man. They always seemed to ignite that eager attitude in each other, Sara and Liam, and once they started discussing their plans for the future of Eos and Voeld, there was no stopping them. Not that Lexi would ever dream of it, giddy just to watch Sara talk about something that made her smile like that.

It was only when a purple gloved hand blocked her view that she was pulled from her thoughts.

“Earth to Doctor T'Perro,” Peebee called, still waving her hand in front of Lexi's face, grinning when finally the woman seemed to react, staring at her and looking rather startled. “Lost on Planet Ryder again?”

“I was just doing some work out here, to get out of the medbay for a moment,” Lexi lied, still rather flustered to have been pulled from her own mind. More annoyed, though, when Peebee laughed at her.

“How's that work going then?” Peebee asked, smiling as she noticed Lexi's eyes again trailing to Ryder.

“Well, as always,” Lexi said, idle as she waited for Peebee to leave her alone. It was only then it dawned on her. “Why do you care how my work is going?”

“I don't.” Peebee's smile widened as she tilted her head down at Lexi's arm. “It's just you're omni-tool went inactive about five minutes ago.”

Lexi opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out as she stared at Peebee, who simply beamed as she turned, sauntering back towards her escape pod without another word.

-

“Ryder, wait,” Lexi called, grabbing the Pathfinder's attention as she strode quickly up behind her.

“I know Kadara's water is dangerous. I won't drink it, no matter how many credits Liam offers me,” Ryder teased, turning to face the doctor and smiling through her helmet at her.

“You underestimate how many credits I'm willing to spend to see that, Ryder,” Liam replied, pressing his knuckles to the side of Ryder's helmet as he passed.

Turning her head dramatically as though she had been struck properly, Ryder put her hand over her heart and laughed. “Tough luck, Kosta, it's doctor's orders. No flaming acid water for me.”

“But she never actually said it,” Liam argued, voice light and teasing as he pulled his own helmet on.

“That's because itt should hardly need to be said.” Lexi pressed her fingers to her temple, breathing in and trying to remind herself they were only joking. Hard though, when what she had often assumed was joking had lead to Suvi being ill from eating assorted Helius flora.

“If you're not here just to ruin our fun, what are you here for?” asked Sara, smiling until a thought seemed to hit her. “It's not more shots, is it? I just got new ones the other day.”

“It isn't more shots, you can stop worrying,” Lexi rolled her eyes as she spoke, hands folding awkwardly in front of her as she tried to work through what she had to say. “I wanted to make sure you'll be safe. After our talk, about what happened, I wanted to make sure you weren't going to do anything reckless.”

“I already said I wouldn't drink the water,” Sara pointed out, half teasing as she stepped forward, hands resting on Lexi's shoulders.

“The water isn't the only danger,” Lexi reminded her. “The exiles and outcasts, the wildlife alone is enough to worry me.”

“The same could be said of any other planet so far.” Sara squeezed Lexi's shoulder. “I'll come back to you in one piece, Doctor T'Perro. If not, you can put me back together and chew me out for breaking my promise.”

“Sara,” Lexi whispered, the name on her tongue for the first time, heavy with emotion and new. Familiar though, as she had said it in her mind a thousand times. “Please be safe.”

Before the Pathfinder could even form a response, two hands were on the sides of her helmet, pulling her down with a gentle ease. For once Sara was glad her helmet was tinted, if only so Liam couldn't see the way she blushed as Lexi pressed a kiss to the glass.

-

The medbay was quiet, lonely, and Lexi knew if she had to sit in silence for one more moment she would snap. Fumbling blindly, she switched on the lights, mindlessly pressing other buttons as she went. Anything to busy her fingers and mind, and as she stood in the middle of the room, not sure what else to do, she spotted her collection of bottles. A bar, Ryder had called it, and while she had denied it at the time, it wasn't entirely a false assumption.

Looking to the closed door, Lexi decided a glass of brandy really couldn't hurt, not when half the squad was asleep and the rest were too busy in their own little worlds. Though what did hurt, and would continue to hurt the next day, was the four glasses that followed the first.

Sitting on the edge of an examination slab, Lexi swirled her glass and swung her feet just a bit. Pulling a face, she once again found herself growing discontent with the silence, but this time she intended to do something about it. It started with humming, idle and without real tune as she let her posture fall and her body relax, before it turned into an old habit.

“It's not weird, is it? Talking to myself,” Lexi muttered, quiet at first, before laughing. “No, of course not, but what other answer would I expect when I'm asking myself.”

Feet hitting the ground, Lexi stood, albeit wobbly on her feet, and examined her room. Plain, clinical, boring, Lexi thought. “Just like me.”

Putting the glass down, emptied of any trace of brandy that was once in it, Lexi ran her hands over her head and let out a groan of a sigh. Pent up was hardly the phrasing she would use, but there was no other word for the tension inside her. There was so much she needed to say, and for so long she had never had time or courage to say it. Except then, in privacy and peace.

“Ryder,” Lexi began, not knowing where she was going but figuring she would find her way. “Ryder, Sara Ryder, human Pathfinder and my greatest cause of stress. No, that sounds like I'm making a toast to her. Starting over. Ryder, I've been meaning to tell you that I-”

Stopping herself short, Lexi looked down at her hands. They were trembling, and she found the words catching in her throat as she tried to speak them. Dropping her hands onto her desk, she let out a long breath, steadying herself on the stable surface and closing her eyes. She could see the woman clearly in her mind, smiling that lopsided smile for her, awkward but charming in her own very Ryder way. It didn't help, only making the shaking worse.

Blinking, Lexi tried again. “Ryder, I've been meaning to tell you, since that night at the Vortex really, that I care for you. More than care for you. I tried so hard to follow the rules I made for myself, but I should have known from the start that you wouldn't follow them and you would only encourage me to do the same. What I'm trying to say, really trying to say is, Sara, I think I-”

“Lexi?” Suvi's voice startled her, and Lexi turned to stare at the door before shaking her head clear. Suvi wouldn't come down to talk her.

“Yes, Doctor Anwar?” Lexi replied, voice a little shaky as she leaned back against the desk, fingers grasping the edge of it for stability.

“I don't mean to startle you, but,” Lexi sounded torn between laughter and pity. “The comms have been on for about, well, whenever you started talking to, or about, Ryder.”

Lexi felt her entire body slump, lips parted but words not coming out. She managed a noise of acknowledgment, but little more than that. She didn't know how to respond or what to do, not in the state she was in. However, Suvi was quick to jump in.

“Don't worry, Ryder is asleep. It's just me that heard,” Suvi assured her, though at once Lexi knew it was untrue.

“Suvi, you know I'm awake and listening, I'm right next to you” Kallo interjected.

“You hardly count,” Suvi dismissed him, as if forgetting Lexi was still listening.

“Do I count?” the muffled voice of Peebee came not over the comms, but shouted from her room, and it was enough to set Lexi's head spinning.

Sinking to the floor, head in her hands and a strangled sort of groan building in her throat, Lexi felt like her hangover had come early, forced along by the laughter she could hear coming from the escape pod in the distance.

-

“Kind of last minute, for a scheduled physical,” Ryder commented, closing one eye as Lexi pushed her hair back to examine behind her ear. Or in her ear, she couldn't really tell.

“Yes, well, after everything with Meridian, I figured this would be necessary,” Lexi lied, staring blankly at the woman's scalp as she pretended to examine her. “Only for you, of course. Nobody else died, again.”

“Third time's the charm,” said Ryder, grinning broadly as she turned to look at the doctor. “Is that a smile I see, Doctor T'Perro?”

“You're seeing things, Ryder,” Lexi whispered, turning her head away but not bothering to conceal the smile that had in fact spread across her face. “I'll check your eyes next.”

“I can see perfectly fine, but if you really need the excuse to gaze lovingly into my eyes, well,” Ryder started, voice filled with that bold and only partially false confidence. “Who am I to stop you?”

“Mm, delusional, too,” Lexi joked, brushing Sara's hair back from her eyes. “Might be the sign of a concussion.”

“Must have happened when I fell.” Ryder leaned into the hand at her face, staring into Lexi's eyes.

“You fell?” All teasing gone from her voice, Lexi stared at the woman incredulously. “When?”

“When I met you,” Sara breathed, soft until she saw the look on Lexi's face. “You really thought I fell, didn't you?”

“Maybe one day you'll take your well-being seriously,” Lexi muttered.

“As seriously as you're taking this totally real physical that definitely wasn't an excuse to get me alone?”

Crossing her arms, Lexi pursed her lips and stared at the Pathfinder, who only stared back, lips pulled up in that delighted grin. Sighing, Lexi looked away. “Ryder, what are we doing?”

“I don't know,” Sara said, genuine and quiet as she watched Lexi, not knowing what had happened to shift the mood so dramatically. “What do you think we're doing?”

“Kidding ourselves, pretending, acting like this, whatever it is, could actually work,” Lexi whispered, unable to raise her voice for fear of it cracking. She was better than tears and pain, and she wouldn't let it consume her.

“Why couldn't it?” Sara stood up, arms awkward at her side until she managed to lift them, grabbing hold of the woman's forearms. “Lexi?”

“I can't lose you, Ryder,” Lexi breathed, and when she looked up, cheeks wet with tears, she cracked. “I can't be with you, and I can't keep entertaining these feelings. Not when you have an inevitable end, even without the fact that every time you leave this ship, there's a chance you could never come back.”

The embrace was unfamiliar at first, Sara's arms wrapped loosely around the stiff and trembling woman, but it was enough. “Everything has an end, Lexi. Even you, far away as it may seem. But that end shouldn't stop us from living while we can, loving while we still can. What's the point in living if you have to live in fear?”

“Sara,” Lexi whispered, chin resting on her shoulder, letting warm hands press against her back and hold her closer. There was nothing she could do, save for stand there and let herself be held, not knowing how else to proceed or what else she could say.

“If you live your whole life afraid of loving people, afraid of the pain of losing them, you lose the joy of ever loving them in the first place. And believe me, Lexi, I've lost as much as you have, but the pain of loss is nothing compared to the joy of loving people, and letting them love you.” Ryder felt the trembling lessen as she spoke, even as tears continued to soak through the shoulder of her hoodie.

Eyes closed, Lexi wrapped her arms around Sara, holding her properly for the first time. Strong arms pulled her yet closer after that, and for once she was not scared to let them. Though she still shook as she let her palms press against Ryder's back, her voice was calm and even as she spoke. “Thank you, Ryder.”

-

It was easier than she had imagined, being with the Pathfinder, and it only seemed to become more relaxed and comfortable with time. Even as the room hung heavy with tension and their heat, there was nothing about it that she would change, nothing in the galaxy – in multiple galaxies, she corrected herself – that she wanted more than to stay like that forever.

As with all things, Sara Ryder refused to conform to what was wanted and expected, and is if reading her girlfriend's mind, she rolled over in bed, away from Lexi and onto her stomach.

Bringing her knees up to her chest, Lexi smiled and sat with her back to the window, one arm wrapped around her legs and the other running gently through Sara's loose hair. She had grown used to how restless the woman was, and it was more endearing than annoying, especially when everything was quiet around them, just their breathing. 

That, too, Ryder could not stand leave as it was. “Did you ever expect things to turn out like this? Out here, in a new galaxy, not quite home, but maybe still something that's good enough?”

“I didn't know what to expect, honestly,” Lexi replied, smiling down at the young woman. “Certainly not this.”

“Bright eyed and young Doctor Lexi T'Perro didn't expect to travel for six hundred years only to have some human break all of her rules and make her life a living hell of stress and stopped hearts?” Ryder asked teasingly, turning her head so she could look up at her, arms fold under her cheek as she grinned.

“I can't say so, no,” Lexi said, laughing as she leaned her head back. “No, I never expected to come all this way and have the most miraculous thing that happens to me be falling in love with some young and overeager space hero.”

“Space hero, I like that,” Sara murmured, before her eyes shot open. “Wait.”

“What?” Lexi asked, suddenly nervous as she took in the quickly spreading grin on Sara's face.

“You said you fell in love with me,” Sara pointed out, sitting up and never breaking eye contact. “You said it.”

“I did not,” Lexi insisted, embarrassed as she thought over what she had said, mortified to realise Sara was right. “I was only exaggerating, it's not like I-”

For once, it wasn't a witty retort or snarky remark that silenced her, but soft lips against her own, and Lexi could not help but close her eyes, content in that moment to remain silent. It was not in her best interest to complain, she thought. Not when Ryder was so close, and not when she was the first thing in that galaxy that really felt like home.


End file.
